Casey Anthony and Her Crazy Ways/Family

The Casey Anthony case still fascinates us on a number of levels. In this piece I won't explore the issue of guilt; i.e., the mountain of evidence against her. I was a defense attorney for 3 years and she's guilty. For now, let's focus on why her case has held our interest for so long and what we can learn about people like her.

First, we're always dumbstruck and horrified by mothers who kill their own children. This is especially true with premeditation, and not some momentary snap or loss of temper. And except for post partum psychosis, which is rare but real, we usually find ourselves wanting blood for blood and an eye for an eye. We argue that if the death penalty is ever just, it is uniquely suited for this crime. We just don't get it. It is more than being against nature; it offends it. Animals fight to the death to save their offspring, they don't kill them.

The first thought most of us had was based on hope that "it must not be her" or "it must have been an accident and she freaked…" To our horror, neither story fits with her behavior before, during or after her daughter's case unfolded.

Casey's behavior before and after are totally inconsistent with an accident. Arguing "accidental death" now, is a bit too late. First, remember that it was not Casey who called the police about her missing daughter; her mother did! It had been a month of Caley missing, so any idea that either Zanny the mystery and non-existent nanny abducted her, is fatally undermined by this tardiness. Any suggestion that there was an accidental death involving Casey and that she "freaked out" gets weaker as each day passed without her notifying anyone about it, and partying on like it was 1999. There's just no way to explain her failure to report her daughter missing. Neither the "Zanny" story works, nor the "oops! It was an accident!" story make sense with the failure to call the police. But aside from what that means to guilt, consider what it means about her conscience and the apparent lack thereof. She lies like few people lie. Her father mentioned that quirk early on and said she'd lie "beyond anyone else" and she sure does. She carries the lying to such an extreme that she seems baffled and indignantly outraged that she isn't believed when she lies earnestly. If it weren't for having a dead child involved, her claim to have been looking on her own, is hilarious. She was dancing and humping away in public, (maybe Caley liked dancing?) while her "private search for Caley" was happening. (The "search" for Caley was so private, no one else knew about it...) Good grief, this reminds me of OJ's golf course searches for "the real killers" of his ex-wife Nicole and Ron Goldman...

Casey denies any and all wrong doing and even points the finger at others. As a former defense attorney I see this as yet another mistake on the part of the defense. Like any murder defense with a case involving a ton of evidence against your client, you only have 3 reasonable choices. You can try to deny it, which isn't usually effective in the face of a mountain of evidence, but by finding fault with the police investigation on occasion, it can work. (See California vs OJ Simpson, for example).

You can claim self defense, but that hardly applies to killing your toddler. Or finally, you can use the insanity defense and use it for the guilt phase and or, at least try to claim some diminished responsibility for sentencing. With Casey's whole defense, Baez has failed miserably b/c the only reasonable approach to this case if he wants to save her life, is to focus on her mental state. Unless he has some serious mistakes on the part of the police and for some idiotic reason is saving them up for trial, I'd say he's already lost her case. Baez has been in over his head from the start, making public relations blunder after blunder. He has made mistakes at almost every turn. But to me, he seems sexually attracted to Casey, and I suspect that matters to Casey a great deal more than it should. This leads me to my two biggest points of interest in this case.

First, as to how & why a mother kills her own offspring, we're morbidly intrigued. It's rare that we can see a true sociopath in action and so much of her thought process and behavior is on display via her computer searches on missing children (before Caley's disappearance) and the use of chloroform, and her video taped discussions with family while she was in jail. She killed her own child and feels no remorse, according to her diary entries and her behavior. That itself shocks the conscience so much that it's worth studying. She claims at one point, in a talk with her parents, that "no one knows how I feel. I'm a victim here. I have no one to comfort me...no one. You have each other but I have no one..." Amazing. She's alone...b/c she killed her daughter! It's the definition of chutzpah, to say "Your honor, please, have mercy on me because I'm an orphan"--when you're on trial for murdering your parents! These statements alone, gets a "WTH?!" from me. God, I hope the jury gets to hear those self pitying clueless comments. They are so telling. Zero insight and zero concern for the loss of an innocent child who inconvenienced her.

Second, I'm fascinated by her family. Evidently they are incapable of holding Casey responsible for anything now. In the past, they knew her to be a "pathological liar" and a thief, and Mrs. Anthony even warned a young man Casey was dating, away from her. What does that feel like as a mother? While I do feel for her, my sympathy only goes so far. Mr. & Mrs. Anthony were the first to suspect the ugly truth in this case, and are on record (in their interviews with the police and their conversations with the car impound lot, and their 911 calls) saying as much. At one point while George Anthony (Casey's father) was talking to law enforcement, he vomited after revealing his inner most fears--which were that he had helped "raise someone who could do this". Mrs. Anthony made the 911 call about her missing grandchild, and both parents reported the "Smell of death" inside Casey's car, which she had so brilliantly abandoned. (I think that was for a Plan B in case she wanted to claim the car was stolen. No matter, no explanation has come forward on that issue). Later, it was George Anthony, not Casey, who attempted suicide in a motel.

Despite being the first to call attention to their grandchild's case, the Anthony family is evidently now standing behind her story, (whatever story that is). They publicly say "she's innocent!". Excuse me? That deserves another "WTH?!" from me.

They know the truth, so why stand by her now? Possibilities to explore are the role they feel they played in her behavior. It has to be a nightmare for them as parents and grandparents. To paraphrase the fear that George Anthony disclosed just before he vomited, "to think we could raise someone who would do this…please don't tell my wife b/c I don't think she'll be able to handle this…" Then he threw up and later he tried to end his life. God help him, and their family at this terrible time. But why stand by her? Do they assume responsibility simply based on parenthood? I've seen clients who did bad things and yet had no criminal siblings. Sometimes someone goes bad, for no apparent reason.

As far as I can tell, that's the case with the Anthony's. They are not criminals, except for Casey. Yet they've raised a true sociopath. I think a psychopath kills for pleasure whereas a sociopath kills b/c it's the easiest path for them. Neither a psychopath or a sociopath feels remorse or empathy for their victims; it's all about them. In her diary, after the killing, (or after her child is inexplicably missing) Casey wrote "I'm more sure now, that I've done the right thing". Wow. What do you do with that?

As repulsive as she has behaved, it is as if she is missing some sort of maternal gene. The gene that forces 99.9% of mothers to go into a burning building to rescue their child. Here, you have a woman who killed her child, perhaps to get back at her own mother (who had criticized her selfish ways and mothering), or to simply rid herself of the inconvenience of having a toddler. Hardly a motivation that to which anyone can relate. Never mind that no one knows the identity of the father. That's another piece to the story that Casey cares nothing about, and has lied about from the beginning. But you have to wonder what makes this woman feel? Has she ever loved? Look at the photos of her behavior even when her daughter's known to be missing. She kept on rocking and humping, in public, getting photographed. And kept on lying to her newest boyfriend, who asked the whereabouts of Caley. (Explain that Mr. Baez). He has to go for the diminished capacity. It's his only option now. Instead, he keeps promising that "when the whole truth comes out, we'll see that Casey is innocent". What are you waiting for?? Does Casey like jail? Get the "innocence proof" out there now!

As a mother, I know I'd stick by my children in the sense that I'd always love them. But there's a difference between that, and literally letting them get away with murder. You'd think by now, the Anthony's would say to themselves, "Gee, enabling Casey to get away with everything wasn't such a good plan...it only seemed easier than following through on accountability", because in the long run, Caley is gone forever. And that must hurt. What a tragic case this is, no matter how evil Casey may turn out to be, because she leaves so many victims in her wake. But in Casey's world, the only victim is her.